Bad food choices: clearer labels aim to help South Africans pick healthier options

South Africans have a hard time figuring out which foods are unhealthy when they go shopping. But this is about to change. South African supermarkets currently sell large amounts of unhealthy, ultra-processed foods. Packaged foods in particular have high levels of sugar, salt and saturated fat – all things that are bad for our health. Research shows that the consumption of these foods is linked to increasing rates of obesity […]

November 14, 2023 5

Health / Medical

What I Learned From the World’s Last Smallpox Patient

By Céline Gounder via kffhealthnews Rahima Banu, a toddler in rural Bangladesh, was the last person in the world known to contract variola major, the deadly form of smallpox, through natural infection. In October 1975, after World Health Organization epidemiologists learned of her infection, health workers vaccinated those around her, putting an end to variola major transmission around the world. The WHO officially declared smallpox eradicated in 1980, and it […]

November 9, 2023 11

Health / Medical

Bird flu could be eradicated by editing the genes of chickens – our study shows how

By Alewo Idoko-Akoh, University of Bristol Recent advances in gene editing technology could potentially be used to create disease-resistant animals. This could curtail the spread of avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu. In a recent gene editing study, my colleagues and I showcased the potential of gene editing to protect chickens from the threat of bird flu. This disease is caused by an ever-evolving virus that gets around numerous […]

November 3, 2023 10

World

Italian Prime Minister describes “fatigue” amongst Ukraine’s allies during prank phone call

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni admitted there's "a lot of fatigue" over the war in Ukraine in a prank phone call with two Russian comedians. Giles Gibson reports from Rome that Vovan and Lexus have previously tricked multiple western leaders and celebrities, including Elton John.

November 2, 2023 11

World

Human Rights Declined in 3 out of 4 Countries since a Global Rule of Law Recession Began in 2016

The rule of law has once again eroded in a majority of countries this year, according to the World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index 2023. More than 6 billion people live in a country where the rule of law weakened between 2022 and 2023. Since authoritarian trends pushed the world into a rule of law recession in 2016, the global downturn has affected 78% of countries, the latest Index shows. […]

October 25, 2023 52

World

People experiencing news fatigue are less likely to be voters

Paul Whiteley, University of Essex In a comprehensive analysis of news consumption across the globe, a recent report by Reuters concluded that “interest in news continues to decline, fuelling disengagement and selective news avoidance”. In the 46 countries surveyed in the report, public interest in news has dropped significantly in the UK, France, the US and Spain over the eight year period from 2015 to 2023. The study was commissioned […]

October 23, 2023 5

World

World Food Programme (WFP) Calls for Sustained Access to Gaza as Humanitarian Convoy Brings First Food Supplies Across Border

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed today’s opening of the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, which enabled a first convoy of trucks to bring in urgently needed food, water and other supplies provided by the Egyptian Red Crescent and the United Nations for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been struggling amid desperate conditions. The convoy, which moved through the Rafah crossing Saturday brought with it […]

October 23, 2023

Business / Economics

IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva speaks at Annual Meeting

Countries are stepping up with finances for the most vulnerable of the world, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Thursday (Oct. 12) in Marrakech, Morocco. Thousands of journalists, policymakers, bankers and civil society organizations are gathered there for the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank. https://youtu.be/MehuXc6eH34 “During these meetings, we aim to put solidarity in action by increasing our capacity to support our low income members. And I […]

October 18, 2023 3

World

UN calls for urgent action to address education crisis as global primary school-age population peaks in 2023

The global population of primary-school-aged children is expected to reach an all-time high of 820 million in 2023. The number of secondary school children is also on the rise, but the education sector, shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, is struggling to meet the rising demand. Against this challenging backdrop, the United Nations Commission on Population and Development convenes this week, from 10 to 14 April, to discuss the vital impact […]

April 11, 2023 5

World